_THE MIDNIGHT RIDE._
NEHEMIAH ii. 9-20.
Nehemiah's journey up to Jerusalem differed in many respects from
Ezra's great expedition, with a host of emigrants, rich stores, and
all the accompaniments of a large caravan. Burdened with none of these
encumbrances, the newly appointed governor would be able to travel in
comparative ease. Yet while Ezra was "ashamed" to ask for a military
escort to protect his defenceless multitude and the treasures which
were only too likely to attract the vulture eyes of roving hordes of
Bedouin, because, as he tells us, he feared such a request might be
taken as a sign of distrust in his God, Nehemiah accepted a troop of
cavalry without any hesitation. This difference, however, does not
reflect any discredit on the faith of the younger man.
In the first place, his claims on the king were greater than those of
Ezra, who would have had to petition for the help of soldiers if he
had wanted it, whereas Nehemiah received his body-guard as a matter of
course. Ezra had been a private subject previous to his appointment,
and though he had subsequently been endowed with large authority of an
indefinite character, that authority was confined to the execution of
the Jewish law; it had nothing to do with the general concerns of the
Persian government in Syria or Palestine. But Nehemiah came straight
from the court, where he had been a favourite servant of the king, and
he was now made the official governor of Jerusalem. It was only in
accordance with custom that he should have an escort assigned him when
he went to take possession of his district. Then, probably to save
time, Nehemiah would travel by the perilous desert route through
Tadmor, and thus cover the whole journey in about two months--a route
which Ezra's heavy caravan may have avoided. When he reached Syria the
fierce animosity which had been excited by Ezra's domestic
reformation--and which therefore had broken out after Ezra's
expedition--would make it highly dangerous for a Jew who was going to
aid the hated citizens of Jerusalem to travel through the mixed
population.
Nevertheless, after allowing their full weight to these
considerations, may we not still detect an interesting trait of the
younger man's character in Nehemiah's ready acceptance of the guard
with which Ezra had deliberately dispensed? In the eyes of the world
the idealist Ezra must have figured as a most unpractical person. But
Nehemiah, a courtier by trade, was evidently well accustomed to
"affairs." Naturally a cautious man, he was always anxious in his
preparations, though no one could blame him for lack of decision or
promptness at the moment of action. Now the striking thing about his
character in this relation--that which lifts it entirely above the
level of purely secular prudence--is the fact that he closely
associated his careful habits with his faith in Providence. He would
have regarded the rashness which excuses itself on the plea of faith
as culpable presumption. His religion was all the more real and
thorough because it did not confine itself to unearthly experiences,
or refuse to acknowledge the Divine in any event that was not visibly
miraculous. No man was ever more impressed with the great truth that
God was with him. It was this truth, deeply rooted in his heart, that
gave him the joy which became the strength, the very inspiration of
his life. He was sure that his commonest secular concerns were moulded
by the hand of his God. Therefore to his mind the detachment of
Persian cavalry was as truly assigned to him by God as if it had been
a troop of angels sent straight from the hosts of heaven.
The highly dangerous nature of his undertaking and the necessity for
exercising the utmost caution were apparent to Nehemiah as soon as he
approached Jerusalem. Watchful enemies at once showed themselves
annoyed "that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children
of Israel."[161] It was not any direct injury to themselves, it was
the prospect of some favour to the hated Jews that grieved these
people; though doubtless their jealousy was in part provoked by dread
lest Jerusalem should regain the position of pre-eminence in Palestine
which had been enjoyed during her depression by the rival city of
Samaria. Under these circumstances Nehemiah followed the tactics which
he had doubtless learnt during his life among the treacherous
intrigues of an Oriental court. He did not at first reveal his plans.
He spent three days quietly in Jerusalem. Then he took his famous ride
round the ruins of the city walls. This was as secret as King Alfred's
exploration of the camp of the Danes. Without breathing a word of his
intention to the Jews, and taking only a horse or an ass to ride on
himself and a small body of trusty attendants on foot, Nehemiah set
out on his tour in the dead of night. No doubt the primary purpose of
this secrecy was that no suspicion of his design should reach the
enemies of the Jews. Had these men suspected it they would have been
beforehand with their plans for frustrating it; spies and traitors
would have been in the field before Nehemiah was prepared to receive
them; emissaries of the enemy would have perverted the minds even of
loyal citizens. It would be difficult enough under any circumstances
to rouse the dispirited people to undertake a work of great toil and
danger. If they were divided in counsel from the first it would be
hopeless. Moreover, in order to persuade the Jews to fortify their
city, Nehemiah must be prepared with a clear and definite proposal. He
must be able to show them that he understands exactly in what
condition their ruined fortifications are lying. For his personal
satisfaction, too, he must see the ruins with his own eyes. Ever since
the travellers from Jerusalem who met him at Susa had shocked him with
their evil tidings, a vision of the broken walls and charred gates had
been before his imagination. Now he would really see the very ruins
themselves, and ascertain whether all was as bad as it had been
represented.
[161] Neh. ii. 10.
The uncertainty which still surrounds much of the topography of
Jerusalem, owing to its very foundations having been turned over by
the ploughshare of the invader, while some of its sacred sites have
been buried under huge mounds of rubbish, renders it impossible to
trace Nehemiah's night ride in all its details. If we are to accept
the latest theory, according to which the gorge hitherto regarded as
the _Tyropoeon_ is really the ancient Valley of Hinnom, some other
sites will need considerable readjustment. The "Gate of the Valley"
seems to be one near the head of the Valley of Hinnom; we know nothing
of the "Dragon Well"; the "Dung Port" would be a gateway through which
the city offal was flung out to the fires in the Valley of Hinnom; the
"King's Pool" is very likely that afterwards known as the "Pool of
Siloam." The main direction of Nehemiah's tour of inspection is fairly
definite to us. He started at the western exit from the city and
passed down to the left, to where the Valley of Hinnom joins the
Valley of the Kidron; ascending this valley, he found the masses of
stones and heaps of rubbish in such confusion that he was compelled to
leave the animal he had been riding hitherto and to clamber over the
ruins on foot. Reaching the north-eastern corner of the Valley of the
Kidron, he would turn round by the northern side of the city, where
most of the gates had been situated, because there the city, which was
difficult of access to the south and the east on account of the
encircling ravines, could be easily approached.
And what did he gain by his journey? He gained knowledge. The
reformation that is planned by the student at his desk, without any
reference to the actual state of affairs, will be, at best, a Utopian
dream. But if the dreamer is also a man of resources and
opportunities, his impracticable schemes may issue in incalculable
mischief. "Nothing is more terrible," says Goethe, "than _active
ignorance_." We can smile at a knight-errant Don Quixote; but a Don
Quixote in power would be as dangerous as a Nero. Most schemes of
socialism, though they spring from the brains of amiable enthusiasts,
break up like empty bubbles on the first contact with the real world.
It is especially necessary, too, to know the worst. Optimism is very
cheering in idea, but when it is indulged in to the neglect of truth,
with an impatient disregard for the shady side of life, it simply
leads its devotees into a fools' paradise. The highest idealist must
have something of the realist in him if he would ever have his ideas
transformed into facts.
Further, it is to be noted that Nehemiah would gather his information for
himself; he could not be content with hearsay evidence. Here again he
reveals the practical man. It is not that he distrusts the honesty of any
agents he might employ, nor merely that he is aware of the deplorable
inaccuracy of observers generally and the inability of nearly all people to
give an uncoloured account of what they have seen; but he knows that there
is an impression to be obtained by personal observation which the most
correct description cannot approach. No map or book will give a man a right
idea of a place that he has never visited. If this is true of the external
world, much more is it the case with those spiritual realities which the
eye hath not seen, and which _therefore_ it has not entered into the heart
of man to conceive. Wordsworth frequently refers to his sensations of
surprise and disappointment passing over into a new delight when he first
beheld scenes long ago described to him in verse of legend. He finds
"Yarrow visited" very unlike "Yarrow unvisited." One commonplace
distinction we must all have noticed under similar circumstances--viz.,
that the imagination is never rich and varied enough to supply us with the
complications of the reality. Before we have looked at it our idea of the
landscape is too simple, and an invariable impression produced by the
actual sight of it is to make us feel how much more elaborate it is. Indeed
a personal investigation of most phenomena reveals an amount of
complication previously unsuspected. Where the investigation is, like
Nehemiah's, concerned with an evil we propose to attack, the result is that
we begin to see that the remedy cannot be so simple as we imagined before
we knew all the facts.
But the chief effect of Nehemiah's night ride would be to impress him
with an overwhelming sense of the desolation of Jerusalem. We may know
much by report, but we feel most keenly that of which we have had
personal experience. Thus the news of a gigantic cataclysm in China
does not affect us with a hundredth part of the emotion that is
excited in us by a simple street accident seen from our own windows.
The man whose heart will be moved enough for him to sacrifice himself
seriously in relieving misery is he who will first "_visit_ the
fatherless and widows in their affliction."[162] Then the proof that
the impression is deep and real, and not a mere idle sentiment, will
be seen in the fact that it prompts action. Nehemiah was moved to
tears by the report of the ruinous condition of Jerusalem, which
reached him in the far-off palace beyond the Euphrates. What the scene
meant to him as he slowly picked his way among the huge masses of
masonry is seen by his conduct immediately afterwards. It must have
stirred him profoundly. The silence of the sleeping city, broken now
and again by the dismal howls of packs of dogs scouring the streets,
or perhaps by the half-human shrieks of jackals on the deserted hills
in the outlying country; the dreary solitude of the interminable heaps
of ruins; the mystery of strange objects half-descried in the
distance by starlight, or, at best, by moonlight; the mournful
discovery, on nearer view, of huge building stones tumbled over and
strewn about on mountainous heaps of dust and rubbish; the gloom, the
desolation, the terror,--all this was enough to make the heart of a
patriot faint with despair. Was it possible to remedy such huge
calamities?
[162] James i. 27.
Nehemiah does not despair. He has no time to grieve. We hear no more
of his weeping and lamentation and fasting. Now he is spurred on to
decisive action.
Fortified by the knowledge he has acquired in his adventurous night
ride, and urged by the melancholy sights he has witnessed, Nehemiah
loses no time in bringing his plans before the oligarchy of nobles who
held the rule in Jerusalem previous to his coming, as well as the rest
of the Jews. Though he is now the officially appointed governor, he
cannot arrange matters with a high hand. He must enlist the sympathy
and encourage the faith, both of the leaders and of the people
generally.
The following points in his speech to the Jews may be noticed. First,
he calls attention to the desolate condition of Jerusalem.[163] This
is a fact well known. "Ye _see_ the evil case that we are in," he
says, "how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned
with fire." The danger was that apathy would succeed to despair, for
it is possible for people to become accustomed to the most miserable
condition. The reformer must infuse a "Divine discontent"; and the
preliminary step is to get the evil plight well recognised and
heartily disliked. In the second place, Nehemiah exhorts the nobles
and people to join him in building the walls. So now he clearly
reveals his plan. The charm in his utterance here is in the use of the
first person plural: not the first person _singular_--he cannot do the
work alone, nor does he wish to; not the _second_ person--though he is
the authoritative governor, he does not enjoin on others a task the
toil and responsibility of which he will not share himself. In the
genuine use of this pronoun "we" there lies the secret of all
effective exhortation. Next Nehemiah proceeds to adduce reasons for
his appeal. He calls out the sense of patriotic pride in the remark,
"that we be no more a reproach"; and he goes further, for the Jews are
the people of God, and for them to fail is for reproach to be cast on
the name of God Himself. Here is the great religious motive for not
permitting the city of God to lie in ruins, as it is to-day the
supreme motive for keeping all taint of dishonour from the Church of
Christ.
[163] Neh. ii. 17, 18.
But direct encouragements are needed. A sense of shame may rouse us
from our lethargy, and yet in the end it will be depressing if it does
not give place to the inspiration of a new hope. Now Nehemiah has two
fresh grounds of encouragement. He first names that which he esteems
highest--the presence and help of God in his work. "I told them," he
says, "of the hand of my God which was good upon me." How could he
despair, even at the spectacle of the ruined walls and gateways, with
the consciousness of this great and wonderful truth glowing in his
heart? Not that he was a mystic weaving fantastic dreams out of the
filmy substance of his own vague feelings. It is true he felt impelled
by the strong urging of his patriotism, and he knew that God was in
that holy passion. Yet his was an objective mind and he recognised
the hand of God chiefly in external events--in the Providence that
opens doors and indicates paths, that levels mountains of difficulty
and fills up impassable chasms, that even bends the wills of great
kings to do its bidding. This action of Providence he had himself
witnessed; his very presence at Jerusalem was a token of it. He, once
a household slave in the jealous seclusion of an Oriental palace, was
now the governor of Jerusalem, appointed to his post for the express
purpose of restoring the miserable city to strength and safety. In all
this Nehemiah felt the hand of God upon him. Then it was a gracious
and merciful Providence that had led him. Therefore he could not but
own further that the hand of God was "good." He perceived God's work,
and that work was to him most wonderfully full of lovingkindness. Here
indeed was the greatest of all encouragements to proceed. It was well
that Nehemiah had the devout insight to perceive it; a less
spiritually minded man might have received the marvellous favour
without ever discovering the hand from which it came. Following the
example of the miserable, worldly Jacob, some of us wake up in our
Bethel to exclaim with surprise, "Surely the Lord is in this place;
and I knew it not."[164] But even that is better than to slumber on in
dull indifference, too dead to recognise the Presence that guides and
blesses every footstep, provoking the melancholy lamentation: "The ox
knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not
know, My people doth not consider."[165]
[164] Gen. xxviii. 16.
[165] Isa. i. 3.
Lastly, Nehemiah not only perceived the hand of God and took courage
from his assurance of the fact; he made this glorious fact known to
the nobles of Jerusalem in order to rouse their enthusiasm. He had the
simplicity of earnestness, the openness of one who forgets self in
advocating a great cause. Is not reticence in religion too often a
consequence of the habit of turning one's thoughts inward? Such a
habit will vanish at the touch of a serious purpose. The man who is in
dead earnest has no time to be self-conscious; he does not indulge in
sickly reflections on the effect of what he says on other people's
opinions about himself; he will not care what they think about him so
long as he moves them to do the thing it is laid on his soul to urge
upon them. But it is difficult to escape from the selfish subjectivity
of modern religion, and recover the grand naturalness of the saints
alike of Old and of New Testament times.
After this revelation of the Divine Presence, Nehemiah's second ground
of encouragement is of minor interest; it can be but one link in the
chain of providential leading. Yet for a man who had not reached his
lofty point of view, it would have filled the whole horizon. The king
had given permission to the Jews to rebuild the walls; and he had
allowed Nehemiah to visit Jerusalem for the very purpose of carrying
out the work. This king, Artaxerxes, whose firman had stopped the
earlier attempt and even sanctioned the devastating raid of the
enemies of the Jews, was now proving himself the friend and champion
of Jerusalem! Here was cheering news!
It is not surprising that such a powerful appeal as this of Nehemiah's
was successful. It was like the magic horn that awoke the inmates of
the enchanted castle. The spell was broken. The long, listless torpor
of the Jews gave place to hope and energy, and the people braced
themselves to commence the work. These Jews who had been so lethargic
hitherto were now the very men to undertake it. Nehemiah brought no
new labourers; but he brought what was better, the one essential
requisite for every great enterprise--an inspiration. He brought what
the world most needs in every age. We wait for better men to arise and
undertake the tasks that seem to be too great for our strength; we cry
for a new race of God-sent heroes to accomplish the Herculean labours
before which we faint and fail. But we might ourselves become the
better men; nay, assuredly we should become God's heroes, if we would
but open our hearts to receive the Spirit by the breath of which the
weakest are made strong and the most indolent are fired with a Divine
energy. To-day, as in the time of Nehemiah, the one supreme need is
inspiration.